


Fast

by bar_allen



Series: Hal Jordan on the CW! [3]
Category: Green Lantern (Comics), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Episode: s01e01 Pilot, Halbarry - Freeform, No Slash, everything else is canon, hal jordan joins the arrowverse, humour (kind of), there's a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 05:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8877034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar_allen/pseuds/bar_allen
Summary: Barry wakes up, learns about his new powers, and is unable to deal with the guilt over the man who died while he was trying to stop Clyde. He knows just the right person to help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is longer than I had planned for it to be. It's just so much fun to write. (This distance from Coast City to Central City is a speculation because I know that Coast City is near Star City and on the show Star City is around 600 miles away from Central City)

Barry woke up from his coma surrounded by two complete strangers - Cisco Ramon and Caitlyn Snow, he'd learnt their names. According to them, he had been in a coma for nine months, most of which he’d spent in STAR Labs being cared for by not only the two of them but also by his idol, Harrison Wells. To say he was confused and overwhelmed would be an understatement.

So, the first chance he had, he excused himself from the labs he had always wanted to visit, told the scientists that he was fine, and headed to his apartment for a shower and a quick change of clothes.

After that, he went to tell Iris he was awake, could feel his heart pumping in his chest. He’d thought it was fast because he was excited, thrilled to see her.

Then the world slowed down, and he was able to run faster than he ever had. Faster than anyone ever had.

He realised that the lightning that had put him in a coma for the most part of the year, had also given him unfathomable powers.

Then came the man who could literally control the weather, another ‘metahuman’ like Doctor Wells had called him. And Barry tried to stop that man, but in doing so, an innocent man was killed.

Oliver’s words did help motivate Barry. The vigilante understood how Barry felt and was able to provide him with words of encouragement.

But still, Barry knew it wasn’t enough. He knew there was one person he needed to talk to the most. One person who would truly understand.

Therefore, and without a second thought, Barry picked up the phone and sent Hal a message.

‘hey I woke up & I need to talk... meet @ our usual spot?’

Barry arrived at his apartment and decided to clean around a bit while he waited for a reply. The small apartment had gotten dusty and dirty in his absence, and even though he could now heal fast, he still didn’t want to catch something because his house was too dusty. While cleaning, he started to think of how crazy his and Hal's lives had been.

When Barry was younger, after his mother’s death, he would meet up with Hal at a park a few blocks away from their school and play around. Hal was originally from Coast City, but after his father’s tragic death, his mother decided to move them to Central City for a while.

Both boys had watched a parent die, and when Hal saw some boys hitting Barry and making fun of him, he defended him and stopped the bullies. Since then, the two had become almost inseparable.

Eventually, Hal had to move back to Coast City. And the park they used to play at was destroyed in a storm, no one ever bothered to go back and repair it.

Then Hal became the Green Lantern and the abandoned park had become their spot to hang out again and for Hal to show off what he could do with his ring. It was where Hal had first shown Barry the ring and told him everything, from the fallen man from space to his own trip to a different planet.

And now, it was Barry’s turn. That same park was about to become the place where the new speedster showed his best friend what he could do.

Hal was back in Coast City, in the middle of a fight, when his phone beeped signalling a new text message. He had left Central City for a few days to go and stop an evil alien who was looking for him and had followed his mark to Coast City.

After kicking the alien’s bottom and getting rid of him, Hal went to Big Belly Burger, even though O'Shaughnessy's was nearer to his location. BBB was always winner for him. He ordered a big sandwich and after eating looked at his phone.

He almost choked on his drink when he saw who the message was from.

“He needs to stop interrupting my meals, man…” Hal whispered to himself, a smile beginning to form on his lips. He texted Barry back telling him he would be there within a few hours, then took off towards Central City.

This time, though, Hal felt exhilarated. Barry texted him which meant that Barry was awake. After nine very long months, his best friend was finally back. Hal felt like the world had turned bright again after it had become gloomy for so long, and he couldn’t wait to see his friend and fill him in on everything he had missed during those nine months.

Once he arrived and landed on the sandy park, he sent Barry a quick text. He knew he should have texted him before arriving because the young CSI always had the tendency to be late.

But before Hal could overthink that mistake, he was bewildered by a flash of lightning zooming through the street. That flash approached him at superhuman speed, and once it stopped, Hal realised that it wasn’t an ‘it’ but a ‘he’. That ‘he’ was Barry Allen. And Barry had a lot of explaining to do.

“Hey, Hal,” Barry flashed his friend a warm smile, which soon turned into a smirk once he saw the look on Hal’s face.

To say that Hal looked confused would be the understatement of the year. The man was completely frozen and stared at Barry for a good five minutes, Barry was starting to worry.

“Erm, Hal? Are you… okay?”

Hal blinked and let out a breath then furrowed his eyebrows.

“What… Who are you?” He asked.

Barry laughed and spoke in a low pitched voice. “I’m your worst nightmare, a dark knigh- wait, no, that’s Batman," Then Barry dropped the joke, cursing his own weak sense of humour, "Dude, come on, I’m Barry.”

“How?” It wasn’t that Hal hadn’t seen crazy before because he definitely had. He owned a ring that was powered by his willpower and could create anything he imagined. But this was Barry, and he was certain that the last time he had seen Barry, he couldn’t do whatever the hell he had just done.

Barry sighed. “Right, yeah. The lightning. It was created by the storm from the particle accelerator explosion, and mixed with dark matter released from the accelerator and with the chemicals in my lab, it gave me powers.”

“What exactly are your powers?” Hal asked, ignoring Barry's explanation for how he got those powers because what the hell is 'dark matter'?

“Super speed.” That was when Hal started laughing.

“Super speed? Dude, you run like a turtle,” Barry rolled his eyes.

“Not anymore. I can now run at 300mph.”

“Are you serious?” Hal’s face broke into a grin, “That’s awesome.”

Barry smiled back but then remembered Mardon and the man who died. He remembered the Man in Yellow and his own mother’s death. His smile turned into a frown, which didn’t go unnoticed by Hal.

“What’s wrong, Barry?”

“I screwed up. I thought I could be a hero like you, use my powers for good. But I messed up, and a man died.”

Realisation brought a frown to Hal’s face, one matching Barry’s. He wanted to lecture Barry on how unwise it was of him to go up against a criminal because powers or not, he had no training and still lacked the skills needed to fight crime. But that wasn’t what Barry needed to hear right now.

“Listen, Bear, that man’s death isn’t on you. You tried to do something good, tried to stop a bad guy. If anyone’s to blame, it’s that criminal.”

“You don’t even know what happened.”

“I don’t have to. I’m sure it involved you risking your life in order to stop that criminal, the poor man who died was probably at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Barry sighed, not arguing because the way Hal put did sound very similar to what happened. But he still couldn’t shake off the guilt. Hal knew him too well to recognise the look on his face.

“Barry, if you’re going to do this. If you’re going to use those new powers of yours to help people, you need to know that there will be days when you lose. There will be times when you won’t be strong enough, or, well, fast enough to save everyone. And you will feel guilty as hell. And you will have to learn to live with that guilt. I can’t tell you it would get better or easier to deal with, but I can reassure you that it would all be worth it.”

Hal finished his little speech with a small smile, which Barry returned.

“Wow, Hal… That was deep,” Barry remarked. Hal’s smile grew bigger.

“You’re not the only one here who can do pep talks. Now, since we’ve gotten deep and personal, I think it’s hug time.” That earned him a laugh from Barry, who opened his arms wide and let Hal pull him into a tight hug.

When they pulled back, Hal was still smiling. “I missed you, Barry.”

Barry exhaled. “Uhm, I was kind of comatose so time passed differently for me. When I woke up, it felt like time had passed but not really, like I was sleeping and it’s only been a few hours.”

Hal rolled his eyes. “So, what you're saying is you didn’t miss me.”

“Hmm,” Barry rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Well…”

“And I just flew 800 miles just to see you, pfft,” Hal pretended to look offended and began walking away, only to be stopped by Barry who was suddenly standing right in front of him.

“I’m just kidding, Hal. I missed you, too.” He smiled warmly at him. Hal smiled back then his eyes lit up.

“Okay, dude, you gotta show me everything you can do. Oh, and we should totally spar sometime. And do you have a suit yet? Man, this is gonna be so much fun!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! All comments are welcome.


End file.
